Filinvest seeks P540-M loan

Filinvest Development Corp., (FDC) the listed investment holding company of the Gotianun family, is seeking a P540-million loan from financial institutions to refinance obligations and for working capital requirements.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange, FDC said its board approved plans to negotiate and enter into an omnibus agreement with Insular Life Assurance Co. Ltd. and ING Bank N.V. for the loan issuance.

FDC will also issue P1.05 billion worth of fixed-rate notes to prepay existing obligations and those of its subsidiaries.

It plans to develop a 12-hectare property in Mactan Island into a residential and leisure project. It has invested in similar projects in the past, such as the Palms Country Club in Alabang and the Laeuna de Taal in Batangas.

FDC earlier raised $4.65 million from the sale of its 13.7-percent stake in Hocheng Philippines Corp. to its Taiwanese partner Ritiboon International Ltd. Hocheng makes bathroom fixtures and sanitary wares.

FDC reported a 129-percent growth in net income in the nine months ending September this year to P383.7 million from P167.4 million the previous year-period.

The increase was attributed to the improved performance of its property and financial services units.

Consolidated revenues reached P3.33 billion billion, which came mostly from additional loans granted. Of the total, P767.1 million came from the group’s banking and financial services which is an improvement of 23 percent from the year-ago level.

On its real estate operations, Filinvest Asia’s PBCom Tower and Filinvest Alabang Inc.’s other leasing activities generated higher rentals for the period under review because of increased occupancies and tenant sales.

FDC property unit Filinvest Land Inc. (FLI) posted a net income of P463.48 million in the first nine months of the year, up 10.23 percent from P420.46 million the same period last year, mainly driven by higher sales from its projects.

For the third quarter alone, FLI reported a 37.44-percent growth in net profit to P191.13 million from P139.06 million. Real estate sales rose 7.93 percent to P1.77 billion in the period January to September this year from only P1.64 billion a year earlier.